Category Archives: World Opinion

Champion quest

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Bodybuilder Syed Siddiq talks about his journey from a scrawny lad to winning the Mr.Asia title

Mr Asia - Syed Siddique / Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar / The Hindu
Mr Asia – Syed Siddique / Photo: G.P. Sampath Kumar / The Hindu

It is hard to miss Syed Siddiq. As he strolls down the road, passersby stop and stare. It would take a brave man, however, to pass a smart-alec comment in his direction, or to antagonise him in any way.

Siddiq is the closest thing to the superhuman comic figure ‘Hulk’ you can hope to see.

Massive muscles seem to rip through every inch of his 105 kilogram body – a truly intimidating sight when he ‘flexes’’ to strike a pose.

Ace bodybuilder

The ripped physique of India’s ace bodybuilder, of course, did not take shape overnight. Siddiq, who recently won the Mr. Asia title at Manila (Philippines), takes out a dusty photo of a scrawny lad. “That was me, eight years ago. I weighed just 48 kilos,” he says with a grin.

That photo is a reminder of his first tryst with the sport. “I was 17 and I enjoyed watching World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on television. I admired The Rock , and wanted to be like him. That pushed me to the gym, for the first time,” he says.

Around a year later, Siddiq witnessed a State-level bodybuilding competition, which sparked his desire to take up the sport seriously.

“I saw the crowd’s reaction to the competitors, and I decided that I wanted to be on stage one day. I drew inspiration from Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is an icon for all of us.”

In the documentary Pumping Iron, which chronicles Schwarzenegger’s path-breaking route to stardom, the Hollywood star talks about one of the turning points of his career.

The introduction of big quantities of meat in his regimen, after years of ignoring his diet, finally allowed Schwarzenegger to put on much-needed mass. This aspect is not lost on Siddiq.

The 25-year-old states that he consumes 30 egg whites and two kilos of boiled chicken in a day, apart from large servings of fruits and vegetables.

And three months prior to competition, rice, bread, salt and oil are off the table.

“I don’t drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes. Ever. A strict diet overall must be maintained to succeed as a bodybuilder.”

Acting with Vikram

Director Shankar cast Siddiq in his to-be-released flick, Ai. Siddiq will feature in a few fight scenes with lead actor Vikram, and recalls the experience with excitement.

“It was great fun to be on a movie set. I have been approached to act in Bollywood movies as well, but I think I will focus on bodybuilding for now.”

With the Mr. Universe event coming up in Germany later this year, Siddiq clearly has his hands full.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Ashwin Achal / Monday – August 25th, 2014

Tapmi professor wins ISB–Ivey global case competetion

Business & Economy, Education, Records, All, World Opinion

Mangalore :

TAPMI professor, Dr A Sivakumar’s Case on UPSL- Exploring Operations Strategy Options won the Best Case under Operations Category of ISB – Ivey Global Case Competition 2014. The award, $2000, is being sponsored by Amazon.

The ISB-Ivey Global Case Competition was launched in 2010, has gained prominence in India and abroad and is widely considered an important source for India-centric cases by B-Schools around the globe. An internationally acclaimed subject expert’s panel judges each case in a double-blind review process and provide feedback.
This year, an unprecedented 109 entries from more than 50 B-schools in India and abroad were received including from the United States, Canada, Australia and Switzerland. The cases spanned different management areas such as Strategy, Marketing and Leadership, as well the growing areas of interest such as, Social Enterprise and Business Ethics. This competition plays a critical role in promoting the development of new case material and the use of the case method in management education.
The top cases from this competition are published to the global audience through Ivey Publishing and Harvard Publishing the two largest sources of business cases in the world. Winners in other categories include Academics from IIM-A, SP Jain, MDI.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mangalore / Stanley Pinto, TNN / August 22nd, 2014

Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthmurthy a towering literary figure

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Records, All, Uncategorized, World Opinion
Ananthamurthy was also the Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala during late 1980s. (Express Archive)
Ananthamurthy was also the Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala during late 1980s. (Express Archive)

SUMMARY

Ananthamurthy had said if Modi comes to power it may result in a shift in our civilisation.
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A towering figure in the world of letters, Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy, who died on Friday, was modern in his sensibilities and intellectual underpinnings in his literary works questioned many deeply-held beliefs.

Like his literary works, Ananthamurthy’s strong political views were also striking, often landing him in unseemly situations and controversies. A multi-faceted personality and rated as one of the best writers in the country, 82-year old Ananthamurthy has won acclaim from critics and fans alike.

In his literary life, the Kannada writer has won the Padma Bhushan in 1998, Jnanpith award in 1994, the state Rajyothsava award in 1984, while his nomination for the 2013 Man Booker International Prize brought him to the attention of a Western audience. He was also the Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University in Kerala during late 1980s.

A socialist in political belief, he also tried to dabble in politics contesting the Lok Sabha and Rajya elections once each unsuccessfully and courted controversies quite often with his views that generally were against BJP and Sangh Parivar.

At the height of the recent Lok Sabha poll campaign, Ananthamurthy had said he would leave the country if Narendra Modi becomes Prime Minister but later did a U-turn, saying the remark was made when he was overcome by emotion.

“That was too much to say because I can’t go anywhere except India,” he had said but his remarks had raised the hackles of BJP and many others who questioned his “intolerant” attitude and disrespect towards a possible popular mandate in favour of Modi.

Ananthamurthy had said if Modi comes to power it may result in a “shift in our civilisation.” “I have a feeling that we may slowly lose our democratic rights or civil rights when there is a bully. But much more than that when there is a bully we become cowards.”

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> India> India-Others / Press Trust of India, Bangalore / August 22nd, 2014

Cupping therapy eyes its niche in city

Science & Technology, World Opinion
Cupping therapy in progress
Cupping therapy in progress

Alternative form of medicine with Chinese origins gets its own association for promotion

Cupping therapy, an alternative form of medicine with Chinese origins, is trying to find its space in the city. The International Cupping Association of India was officially inaugurated on Tuesday, and Dr Badruzzama Nadeem, a practising Unani physician who is the moving force behind it, has plans to take it to Chennai, Bhubaneswar, and Patna by the end of next month.

Cupping is an ancient practice where heated cup-like devices are used to create suctions on the skin. These suctions are believed by practitioners to not only detox the body but also help relieve pain in the spinal cord, neck, and shoulder region.

Dr Nadeem explained, “When suction is applied, blood from a radius of three centimetres from where the cup is placed is sucked into the bump.” Practitioners believe that ‘impure blood’ gets collected in one place and blood circulation gets better once the cup is released. They also hold that the method detoxifies the body.

Cupping can be broadly classified into two types — dry and wet. While dry cupping is practised using suction cups made of silicone, rubber, or fibre where the air is sucked out, wet cupping follows the same process except for the little incision made in the bump for ‘impure blood’ to trickle out — a procedure known as controlled bleeding.

A third form of cupping is fire cupping. Here, a cotton ball is soaked in 70 percent alcohol which is then held by a pair of forceps and lit. The lit cotton ball is then placed into the cup and removed as soon as it is placed. Practitioners say the process removes oxygen from inside the cup. It is then placed on the skin quickly to create a small amount of suction as the hot air inside the cup cools.

Dr. Nadeem founded the association, which was inaugurated by Health Minister UT Khader, in a bid to increase awareness. “At the moment there are not more than 65 practitioners in Bangalore,” he said.

INEXPENSIVE, AND HOT

Cupping as an alternate form of therapy is yet to catch on in Bangalore, despite being inexpensive. Treatments can range anywhere from Rs 100 to Rs 500 for dry cupping. “Since wet cupping requires experts, it can range from Rs 200 to Rs 1,500. At the moment we get six to seven patients a day, most of them due to word of mouth,” explained Dr Nadeem.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Tapasya Mitra Mazumder, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / August 20th, 2014

He dreamt of Bellur as a global yoga village

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Travel, World Opinion

Bellur (Kolar district):

Bellur Krishnamachar Sundaraja Iyengar may never have become a famed global yoga guru, had he been attentive in his English class. Iyengar, who failed his English exam in class 10, didn’t go on to college; he took up yoga.

On Wednesday, the tiny village of Bellur in Kolar district of Karnataka, with a population of around 1,000, paid homage to the man who was born here 96 years ago. As news of BKS Iyengar’s death spread in the morning, the village folk assembled in front of the grama panchayat building in tribute.

The Brahmin boy from this dusty village had to move to Bangalore at the age of six for a formal education, as the nearest school was 20km away. This had always rankled Iyengar, who would tell his scores of disciples that all children should have a proper education.

VS Nagesh, principal of Ramamani Sundaraja Iyengar Composite Junior College, told TOI that had BKS passed his SSC examination, he would have gone on to college and maybe opted for a government job. “In that case, yoga would not have reached the rest of the world,” said Nagesh.

BKS had always dreamt of developing Bellur as a global yoga centre, and was working out the modalities, helped by his elder daughter and lone son, who have also taken up yoga.

A frequent visitor to Bellur, he was here last April for the 150th ceremony of his late father and took part in the Anna Santharpane. He spent a couple of weeks at the village, said Govindarajalu, administrator of the trust running his institutions. Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda met Iyengar here in May and learnt a few yoga lessons from the master.

His youngest daughter, BJS Savitha Raghu, who lives in Bangalore, said it was her father’s dream to provide a good education and healthcare facilities to children. This led to a primary school in Bellur, started in 1967 in memory of his parents. A high school was started in 2005 for his wife Ramamani, and today, the Bellur Krishnamachar Seshamma Smaraka Nidhi Trust runs the Ramamani Sundaraja Iyengar College.

The Trust has also set up a charitable hospital, taken up renovation of temples and other developmental activities.

BKS leaves behind six children and thousands of disciples across the globe. Family insiders say the deaths of two of his sons-in-law in the span of a year may have affected his health.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore / TNN / August 21st, 2014

MYLISA to celebrate Librarians Day tomorrow

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, World Opinion

Mysore :

Mysore Librarians and Information Scientists Association (MyLISA) is celebrating the Librarians’ Day in a unique way. As a reach out activity of this year, the members of MyLISA visit schools and other institutions on August 12 and give a motivational lecture on ‘Reading Habits’ and ‘Library use’ to the children.

St. Joseph School, Jayalakshmipuram, Taralabalu Math School, T.K. Layout, Harividyalaya High School, Bogadi, Gangothri School, Manasagangtri, Sarada Vilas College, Krishnamurthy Puram, City Central Library, Sayyaji Rao Road, Good Shepard High School, JP Nagar, Sadhvidya High School, Ramavilas Road, Ideal Jawa Rotary School, JLB Road and other institutions are covered in the programme.

A manual on ‘Guide to setting up an open library in schools’ prepared exclusively for the day by Usha Mukunda, Bangalore, will also be circulated among these schools on August 12.

For more information, contact MyLISA Secretary and DOS Library & Information Science Associate Professor Dr. N.S. Harinarayana on Mob: 9741533380 or e-mail: ns.harinarayana@gmail.com

Librarians’ Day: It is Padmashree Dr. S.R.Ranganathan who brought professional status to librarianship in India. Born in Siyalli in in 1892, Ranganathan got educated in Mathematics and started his career as a lecturer in mathematics. In a dramatic turn of event in his career, he became university librarian at University of Madras in 1924. This was a blessing in disguise for Indian libraries. Unconvinced by the State of affairs in libraries in India, he got himself trained from University College, London. After coming back from there, he brought unparallel improvements in all facets of libraries. ‘Five laws of library science,’ ‘Prolegomena to library classification’ and ‘Colon classification’ are classics in library science education. His birth day August 12 is celebrated as “Librarians’ 

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 11th, 2014

City’s NGO receives award at AIDS conference

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
Seen in the picture (from left) are: Michael N. Joyner- Director of Positive Action, VIIV Healthcare, Karl Krupp- Programme Director of PHRII and Dominic Kemps- Director of VIIV Healthcare’s Positive Action Programme during the conference held at Melbourne in Australia recently.
Seen in the picture (from left) are: Michael N. Joyner- Director of Positive Action, VIIV Healthcare, Karl Krupp- Programme Director of PHRII and Dominic Kemps- Director of VIIV Healthcare’s Positive Action Programme during the conference held at Melbourne in Australia recently.

Mysore :

City based NGO Public Health Research Institute of India (PHRII) of India at Yadavagiri in city has bagged an award at the AIDS 2014 conference held at Melbourne in Australia recently.

The award was announced at the conference organised by The Positive Action for Children Fund in association with the International AIDS Society and MTV Staying Alive Foundation.

PHRII had participated in the ‘Every Footstep Counts’ competition in which more than 40 organisations working in the field of HIV/AIDS across the globe had participated.

NGOs and community groups were invited to produce a film, documenting their works on the prevention of transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 10th, 2014

Commonwealth bronze sweetens life for Sakina Khatun

Amazing Feats, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Sakina khatun with the bronze medal she won at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. / The Hindu
Sakina khatun with the bronze medal she won at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. /
The Hindu

Her success is all down to her hard work: coach

Life has not been kind to Sakina Khatun, who won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday.

In Glasgow’s Clyde Auditorium, the 25-year-old Bangalore-based para-athlete lifted a weight of 88.2 kg to finish third in the women’s powerlifting event (Lightweight Group A). It was a success that came after prolonged hardship.

“My parents cried when I broke the news to them on the phone,” she told The Hindu from Glasgow.

Her coach and mentor Farman Basha, who also competed at the Games, faltered in his event on account of an injury, but his delight was enormous. “She has been through a lot. So I’m very happy for her,” he said.

Sakina hails from Basirhat in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. Her mother is a farm labourer while her father, ailing with a serious back condition, is unable to work. “He can’t even walk,” Sakina said. “We don’t have the money for his treatment.”

Afflicted with polio at a young age, she took up swimming on her doctor’s suggestion, learning in ponds in her village before a teacher in school noticed she had an aptitude for it. “Despite steady success at the national level, I was ignored for the 2010 Commonwealth Games team. It left me disheartened and I quit the sport,” she said.

Sakina switched over to powerlifting on the advice of one of her swimming coaches, and in 2010 was directed to Basha. “She wanted to come over to Bangalore to be trained by me,” he said. “She had no money and I couldn’t afford to spend a rupee on her.”

But Sakina found a benefactor in Dilip Majumdar, a businessman who volunteered to support her training. “I’m a girl and my parents were against my leaving home,” she recalled. “But my sponsor managed to convince them.”

“At first, she could only lift around 25 kg,” recalled Basha. “But gradually she improved. Her success is all down to her hard work.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bangalore / by Shreedutta Chidananda / Bangalore – August 04th, 2014

Snake Shyam featured in UK tabloid

Amazing Feats, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, World Opinion

Reaches 28,000 mark yesterday

SnakeShamBF31jul2014

Mysore :

City’s noted snake rescuer and wildlife conservationist popularly known as Snake Shyam who has been elected as the Corporator of MCC Ward No. 17 was featured in Daily Mail, a UK tabloid on July 23.

The article in the tabloid says that Snake Shyam, despite being allergic to most anti-venom, catches some of the deadly species in Mysore every day.

It also says that this serpent-lover had been bitten four times and the doctors discovered that their treatments were prompting a severe allergic reaction which could kill him.

That means that Snake Shyam’s next call-out could be his last – but despite the dangers, he refuses to give up.

The article also features photographs of Shyam catching snakes, documenting them, his Maruti Omni Van and video of him catching a snake.

Reaches 28,000 mark yesterday

With the rescue of a Rat Snake at a steel godown in Bannimantap here yesterday, Shyam has so far rescued 28,000 snakes.

Snake Shyam speaking to SOM said that he began catching snakes in 1980 and had not documented them till 1997. He further said that on the advice of some, he began to document the snakes he had rescued from 1997 and has so far rescued 28,000 snakes and released them into their habitat far from urban areas.

He has called upon the people not to kill them, but instead call him on Mob; 94480-69399 and keep a watch on the snake till he arrives.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General  News  / July 25th, 2014

Three horse riders from Bangalore for Incheon Asian Games

Sports, World Opinion

Ajai Appachu, Fouaad Mirza and Nadia Haridass, three of Karnataka’s senior show jumpers, would take part in the equestrian event of the 17th Asian Games to be held in Incheon, South Korea, from September 19 to October 4.

Appachu, Mirza and Haridass train in Bangalore’s Embassy International Riding School (EIRS) and have qualified through five trials, qualifiers and competitions which were held from October last year to April this year, said a media release today.

There were five jury members involved in making the selections for each of the competition’s disciplines – jumping, dressage and eventing.

Appachu has earned several equestrian accolades at events world-wide and recently placed second at the Hopetoun Commonwealth Cup in Scotland and is also the chief instructor for budding equestrians at the school.

Mirza, 22, placed fourth at the Hopetoun Commonwealth Cup earlier this year while Nadia has been a consistent performer in the dressage category – representing the country at international meets, the release said.

The equestrian sport has been featured in the pan-Asian sports spectacle since the New Delhi Games in 1982 and to date, Japan leads the honours list, followed by South Korea and India in that order.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> National> News / Press Trust of India / Mumbai – July 24th, 2014